Perhaps the best known spelling rule is, I before E, except after C; or when sounded like 'A' as in neighbor or weigh. Children have been learning this little rhyme, also known as a mnemonic device, for decades. Some exceptions to this rule are: either, foreign, height, and weird. Words with 'cien' as in science and ancient are also exceptions.

-Able and –Ible:

Knowing whether to end a word with -able or -ible can be hard to memorize. Instead of having to memorize each individual word, the following rule usually works: -able words are complete without this ending; -ible words are usually incomplete when you remove the suffix. For example is the word negligible; if you remove ible from the end, 'neglig' is not a word!

The Silent E:

Silent E helps vowels to say their names is another common adage. This means that the words which have a long vowel sound, followed by a consonant, usually end with a silent E. This helps children remember word endings. Examples that help children understand are rate and rat, as well as hate and hat.

Walking Vowels:

When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking. This helps children remember which vowel goes first when there are two in a row. For example, tea is not tae because the vowel sounds like 'eee.'